Economy & Economic Development  October 6, 2014

Effort underway to form private regional eco/devo group with ‘NoCo’ brand

Efforts are underway in Northern Colorado to create an economic development group that would be funded solely by the private sector to promote the area as a unified region with one brand.

Tom Gendron, chairman, chief executive and president of Fort Collins-based Woodward Inc., and Scott Erhlich, president of Ehrlich Motors in Greeley, are behind the exploratory effort to form what is tentatively being called the Northern Colorado Economic Alliance.

Rocky Scott, director of corporate affairs for Woodward Inc., is developing the details and said the effort is supported by Troy and Chad McWhinney, founders of Loveland-based McWhinney, a real estate development, construction and management firm.

SPONSORED CONTENT

Business Cares: March 2024

WomenGive, a program of United Way of Larimer County, was started in Larimer County in 2006 as an opportunity for women in our community to come together to help other women.

Scott was a principal at McWhinney from 2005 to 2009, and was president and CEO of the Colorado Springs Economic Development Corp. from 1989 to 2005.

The Northern Colorado region, made up primarily of Larimer and Weld counties, has two public-private economic development groups — Loveland-based Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp., which serves Larimer County, and Upstate Colorado Economic Development in Greeley, which serves Weld County.

Both are funded by governments and businesses, and both have government officials on their boards of directors. Several companies invest in both organizations. Erhlich is president of Upstate Colorado’s board of directors.

For investors who fund several of the region’s economic development groups, Scott said, “It gets awkward.” He said there is no group in place that can brand the area as one large region.”

Local groups project a perceived bias toward their own area, Scott said. “We respect those organizations, but we need to remove that perceived bias. Businesses are not limited to geographic lines. They have a regional perspective. … This group would be more uniting, more responsive to businesses, serve them as customers, better.”

Scott said site selectors — companies that collect information on areas to help businesses relocate — say the region doesn’t have a brand, putting it at a disadvantage, Scott said. “They ask, ‘What is Northern Colorado?’ ”

“This (new organization) is a concept for discussion,” said Scott, who explained initial feedback from business leaders has been positive. “We’ve had informal breakfasts with about a dozen leaders, and we’ve received positive feedback.”

“This is about being a highly trusted organization that treats everyone as a partner,” Scott said.

Scott is preparing a presentation he wants to deliver to the boards of directors of NCEDC and Upstate Colorado within 45 to 60 days. The presentation would outline the proposed organization’s mission and how it would go about achieving it.

If formed, it is unclear what would happen to NCEDC and Upstate Colorado’s funding and membership base. About 40 percent of UpState Colorado’s budget comes from private investors, which has several programs tied to municipalities.

Paul Mueller, managing director of Mueller & Associates CPA LLC in Loveland and chairman of NCEDC’s board of directors, responded to a request for comment through the organization’s spokesman Andy Boian of Denver-based dovetail solutions, a public relations firm.

Boian said the organization would not speculate on what affect a new economic development group would have on NCEDC’s budget, but provided a prepared statement.

“We welcome as many active participants in economic development for Northern Colorado as possible. We love the opportunity to ensure that as much opportunity is brought to Northern Colorado as possible, and the more the merrier.”

Ehrlich and Gendron were not available for comment.

Efforts are underway in Northern Colorado to create an economic development group that would be funded solely by the private sector to promote the area as a unified region with one brand.

Tom Gendron, chairman, chief executive and president of Fort Collins-based Woodward Inc., and Scott Erhlich, president of Ehrlich Motors in Greeley, are behind the exploratory effort to form what is tentatively being called the Northern Colorado Economic Alliance.

Rocky Scott, director of corporate affairs for Woodward Inc., is developing the details and said the effort is supported by Troy and Chad McWhinney, founders of Loveland-based McWhinney, a real estate development,…

Sign up for BizWest Daily Alerts